Today’s Question: Is there a way to rectify the lack of the Dehaze slider in Lightroom 6?
Tim’s Quick Answer: You can access Dehaze within Lightroom 6 by first creating a preset (or series of presets) for the Dehaze adjustment in Lightroom CC and then installing the Dehaze preset(s) in Lightroom 6.
More Detail: The Dehaze adjustment in Lightroom CC is ostensibly not available in the standalone (non-subscription) version of Lightroom 6. However, through the use of presets you can access Dehaze in Lightroom 6.
The first step is to create one or more presets in Lightroom CC that include only the Dehaze adjustment. For example, you might create a preset with the Dehaze setting at various values, perhaps in 20% increments. For each variation you want for the Dehaze adjustment, create a new preset by clicking the plus symbol (+) to the right of the Presets header on the left panel in the Develop module.
In the “New Develop Preset” dialog enter a name for the preset (such as “Dehaze 20”) that will be meaningful. Then click the “Check None” button at the bottom-left of the dialog, and turn on only the “Dehaze” checkbox in the Effects section of controls. Note that the Process Version checkbox will remain enabled, and you want to keep that checkbox turned on. Click Create to create the actual preset, and repeat for as many variations as you want to have.
Next, export the Dehaze presets by right-clicking on each and choosing “Export” from the popup menu. Save the preset you’re exporting with the same name you used for the preset itself, in a location that is convenient for transferring these files later. I recommend saving the various exported presets in a folder called “Dehaze” that is in turn located on the Desktop in your operating system.
Then follow these steps to make these Dehaze presets available in Lightroom 6:
1) Go to the Preferences dialog by selecting Preferences from the Edit (Windows) or Lightroom (Macintosh) menu on the menu bar.
2) Go to the Presets tab in the Preferences dialog.
3) Click the “Show Lightroom Presets Folder” button to open a window in your operating system that will show the Lightroom folder where presets are stored.
4) Close the Preferences dialog and quit out of Lightroom.
5) In the window that opened when you clicked the “Show Lightroom Presets Folder”, open the “Lightroom” folder, and then open the “Develop Presets” folder.
6) Copy the folder containing the exported Develop presets into the “Develop Presets” folder opened above.
7) Launch Lightroom.
At that point you will find a “Dehaze” folder in the Presets section of the left panel in the Develop module. You can click on the presets by name to apply Dehaze at a given percentage strength based on the presets that were originally exported from Lightroom CC.